Operation differential swap is a go!

[Ricky Bobby]

"Febest" is cheap chinese junk btw.

[Green Dragon]

3.64 Ratio diffs are on their way! I found a set of O.E. front remaned axles through a chain store. They were remaned by Cardone. Beware!, there are alot of Chinese axles in the reman stock now. I inspected them as best I could without pulling the boots, bringing along the micrometer and calipers.
Everything felt nice and tight and splines looked good. Its a roll of the dice I know. We will see how the install goes.

[Green Dragon]

Originally Posted by trader4

FYI, I came across this long thread about Cardone when I was trying to decide which axles to use:

CV Axle Nightmare - e30tech.com Forums

The interesting part is that management from Cardone gets into the thread early on, appears genuinely interested in finding out what the problem is and fixing it. There are visits by mgt to their rebuild facility, mgt goes to the shop of one of the repair guys on the thread to see the problems first hand, etc. But sadly a couple years later no more from the Cardone guy and folks still saying their rebuilt axles have serious problems. Principle complaint is that the splines are buggered up so bad that they won't go on the car. If your's are OK, hopefully you won't have a problem. I'd be interested in how it works out.

That's funny! I read that same thread last week, just not all of it. I was hoping Cardone had stayed consistent with their quality control. I was really impressed by the company's response and call to action.

[Ricky Bobby]

Good luck Ryan I'm crossing my fingers yours are ok.

Where did you source the diffs?

[Green Dragon]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Good luck Ryan I'm crossing my fingers yours are ok.

Where did you source the diffs?

That makes the two of us buddy! I'm prepared for a nut shot, but hoping for the best. The axles were about $120 for the pair (before core charge of 35 an axle)with a lifetime warranty. I will keep my axles as a backup set.

I sourced a pair of diffs from an '03 4.4i out of southern California from flea-bay. 80k miles on the diffs (claimed to be in excellent condition)and a price reduction for buying the pair. All-in-all about 500 bones shipped with a warranty period. ----I think I have figured out why I have such a good time in Vegas. I say, "Roll the dam dice!"

[Ricky Bobby]

The diffs I'm interested in impressions and how easy the install is as far as bolt on (apparently they should be). As you know I have one less cog so it could be hugely useful on a 5 speed.

Good call on keeping your OE axles. If anything down the line you can reboot them with OEM gkn boot kits like I did (20 bucks a kit per side!) or if you need new outer complete joints it's 150 per side from BMW. Not many people know you can buy just the outer joint from the dealer.

Did you ever meet up with Jim Conforti? Shoot me a pm if so I don't want to get your thread off track homeslice

[Green Dragon]

Got everything installed on Friday and refreshed all the drive-line fluids with Redline MTL in the tranny, 75-90 in the diffs. X-drive fluid will be next, just need to get my dealer programming suite up and running first.

Just did a short 400 mile road trip to test everything out. I absolutely love the new ratios! Returned about 25 mpg at 80-85 mph the whole way without even breaking a sweat. (speed limits out here are 75 & 80 on I-15)

Anyone concerned about the 3.64 ratio's being lethargic/slow can put that idea to bed forever. I'm convinced that this should have been the ratio from factory. As the transmission ratios did not change, you still preserve the feel BMW intended, and suits the I-6 3.0 well. I honestly don't think towing performance is an issue at all either. My 0-60 is noticeably quicker as the X5 has more leg under her and requires at least *one less gear change.* I was not expecting this. My wife noticed as well. Time for ECU to get sharked with a 7k rev-limit extension to stay in that gear a wee bit longer!

I'm preparing pics and and slight modifications write up I had to do, as it was not an exact swap with the LCI. Nothing crazy.

All-in-all, I highly recommend this mod for the three pedal guys, especially those with the 5 cogs. I will post some videos as well.

[Ricky Bobby]

Wow Ryan I'm amazed at just the mileage improvements!

Wonder if the diffs are more plug and play on the pre facelift 5 speeds? Looking forward to your write up, looks like a Shark tune and diffs may be in the cards down the line.

[Joshdub]

This is very interesting. Are these LSD too or no?

[Ricky Bobby]

No they are stock diffs. You can add an LSD to them, search a thread by "sedc" as he did so.